No idea what triggered this memory, but I figured I should write it down. When I was in high school, I often came home to an empty house. I sort of liked it that way. One day I accidentally broke my key in the lock of the front door.

I tried to get it out, but realized it was no use. I was pretty sure my mother would not be pleased, and so had to figure a way to fix it before she got home. That’s when I remembered I had the key to the patio door on the roof on my keyring. Why I had this key, I don’t know.

We lived in a townhouse that had a roof deck on the top floor. Why anyone would even use the key was beyond me, but suddenly I knew how to use it. Now all I had to do was get on the roof.

It was a six-unit complex, and everyone worked outside the home. Well, everyone except the stay-at-home mom in unit one. I knocked on her front door and explained my predicament. I am sure she thought I was insane.

You see, the four middle units were pretty much identical. Units one and six were different, with unit one’s biggest difference being that its roof deck was not on the same side as the other five. That would mean I would have to climb over the wall of her deck, and walk along the roof to get to mine.

She let me in, and I did it. I don’t remember how I scaled the higher wall to get onto the deck. But once I was on my deck, I pulled out my key and got into the house. I was able to open the front door and with a pair of tweezers and a magnet, got the key out (before my mom came home).

I’m pretty sure I went back to my neighbor’s house to let her know I was okay. I’m sure she still thought I was crazy. I never had the need to use the key to the roof deck again. Thankfully.